Deuteronomy 4:32 – 34, 39 – 40
We have returned to Ordinary Time, that is, time ordered according to God’s plan for our salvation. As we do so, the Church has offered us over these next two Sundays the opportunity to reflect on two very important aspects of our faith: the Blessed Trinity and The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. These are two fundamental beliefs that inform everything else we believe about God. This Sunday, we focus on the mystery of the Holy Trinity. As we read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “[t]he mystery of the Trinity in itself is inaccessible to the human mind and is the object of faith only because it was revealed by Jesus Christ, the divine Son of the eternal Father”(CCC, p. 902). But, we can speak about God as a Trinity because it has been revealed to us. And, it is very important for us to reflect on the Trinity because it is at the center of our faith. To quote the Catechism again, “[t]he mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is, therefore, the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the ‘hierarchy of the truths of faith’” (CCC, 234). So, let’s spend some time reflecting on this central mystery of our faith.
God revealed himself to Adam and Eve, Noah and Abraham. But, he revealed himself by name to Moses and entered into a covenant relationship with Israel through him. In this Sunday’s reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, we hear Moses enjoin the people to put their faith in God because he has demonstrated such great power for them. The text is a magnificent homily on the election of Israel. It is one of the stylistic and theological highpoints of the Book of Deuteronomy. The passage we hear on Sunday is taken from one of the three long addresses attributed to Moses that comprise the Book of Deuteronomy. In its present form, it probably dates to the time of the Babylonian exile, but it probably has roots in a Levitical sermon; its style dates it to the 7th century BC.
32 [Moses said to the people:] “Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of?
33 Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
Did a people ever hear the voice of God…and live?: it was believed that anyone who beheld God – or even his messenger – could not live (cf. Jgs 6:22-23; 13:22).
34 Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the LORD, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself: this is an interesting question. Nowhere in history has there been any account of a god/goddess seeking to have a relationship with people; it is always people who seek a relationship with the gods.
Testings: the demonstrations of God’s power as in the ten great plagues of Egypt (cf. Deut 7:19; 29:2).
35 All this you were allowed to see that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other.
LORD is God and there is no other: cf. note on vs. 39
36 Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you; on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard him speaking out of the fire.
37 For love of your fathers he chose their descendants and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power,
38 driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you, so as to bring you in and to make their land your heritage, as it is today.
39 This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other.
the LORD is God…there is no other: notice the monotheistic reference here. This leads most scripture scholars to conclude that this must be a post-exilic writing because it was by this time that the ancient Israelites came to believe that there was only one God – their God.
40 You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever.”
Matthew 28:16 – 20
Throughout John’s Gospel, we discover the clearest proclamation of the Trinity. It is not so clear in the Synoptic Gospels. Yet, in this Sunday’s reading from the very end of the Gospel of Matthew, we hear the risen Lord instruct his disciples to make disciples of all nations and baptize them with a Trinitarian formula. This passage is unique to Matthew. It most likely reflects a formula that was adopted decades after our Lord’s resurrection. This climactic scene has been called a “proleptic parousia,” (the assigning of a person, event, etc., to a period earlier than the actual one; the representation of something in the future as if it already existed or had occurred; prochronism) for it gives a foretaste of the final glorious coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 26:64). Then his triumph will be manifest to all; now it is revealed only to the disciples, who are commissioned to announce it to all nations and bring them to belief in Jesus and obedience to his commandments.
16 The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
The eleven: the number recalls the tragic defection of Judas Iscariot.
To the mountain . . . ordered them: since the message to the disciples was simply that they were to go to Galilee (Matthew 28:10), some think that the mountain comes from a tradition of the message known to Matthew and alluded to here. Most, however, consider it a theological statement, similar to the mountain of temptation (4:8), the mountain of the sermon (5:1) and the mountain of the transfiguration (17:1). For the significance of the mountain, see the note on Matthew 17:1. Recall that God reveals himself from the top of the mountain to both Moses and Elijah.
17 When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
But they doubted: as you will notice in the footnotes, the Greek can also be translated, “but some doubted.” The verb occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in Matthew 14:31 where it is associated with Peter’s being of “little faith.” For the meaning of that designation, see the note on Matthew 6:30.
18 Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
All power . . . me: the Greek word here translated power is the same as that found in the LXX translation of Daniel 7:13-14 where one “like a son of man” is given power and an everlasting kingdom by God. The risen Jesus here claims universal power, i.e., in heaven and on earth.
19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,
Therefore: since universal power belongs to the risen Jesus (Matthew 28:18), he gives the eleven a mission that is universal. They are to make disciples of all nations. While “all nations” is understood by some scholars as referring only to all Jews or all Gentiles, it is probable that it included both Jews and Gentiles.
Baptizing them: whereas for the ancient Jews, baptism was seen as a cleansing ritual, for the Christian baptism is the means of entrance into the community of the risen one, the Church.
In the name of the Father . . . holy Spirit: as you will read in your footnotes, this is perhaps the clearest expression in the New Testament of Trinitarian belief. It may have been the baptismal formula of Matthew’s church, but primarily it designates the effect of baptism, the union of the one baptized with the Father, Son, and holy Spirit. Baptism is a rite of initiation; to baptize “into the name” is to signify that the person baptized belongs to the Trinity of persons whose names are invoked in the ritual.
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
All that I have commanded you: your footnote indicates that this is the moral teaching found in this gospel, preeminently that of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). The commandments of Jesus are the standard of Christian conduct, not the Mosaic law as such, even though some of the Mosaic commandments have now been invested with the authority of Jesus. It also speaks of Jesus’ teaching about prayer that we find in Mt. 6:9-15, a teaching we all need to attend to carefully.
Behold, I am with you always: the promise of Jesus’ real though invisible presence echoes the name Emmanuel given to him in the infancy narrative; see text and note at Matthew 1:23. That Jesus lives in the Church is a belief elaborated in the Pauline writings but also found in the Gospels. The Church itself is the witness of the resurrection, since its life and activity are a constant testimonial that Jesus lives.
End of the age: see the text and notes at Matthew 13:39 and Matthew 24:3. As you see, this phrase is found only in Matthew’s gospel and speaks of second coming of Jesus.
Romans 8:14 – 17
This Sunday, we hear the end of Paul’s exhortation to the community in Rome to live as heirs of God the Father Son and Holy Spirit.
14 [Brothers and sisters:] those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
those who are led by the Spirit…children of God: the vivifying power of the Spirit not only gives believers a new life but bestows on them the character of adopted children. As you will read in the footnotes, Christians, by reason of the Spirit’s presence within them, enjoy not only new life but also a new relationship to God, that of adopted children and heirs through Christ, whose sufferings and glory they share.
15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba, Father!”
Abba: see text and note at Mark 14:36.
16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified: notice the requirement to suffer before glorification. The paschal mystery must be accepted in its entirety.
These readings not only teach us about God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit but about us as being welcomed into communion with God through the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to reflect on this important revelation of our faith. It is so easy to just take it for granted but it truly sets the Christian faith apart from all others and speaks so eloquently of the precious vocation God calls us to – union with him, Father, Son and Holy Spirit forever.